Rainbow's Pet
by jentomboy
Summary: Dash's pet, Tank, gets killed by a unicorn. How can Dash cope with this problem? Will she move on, get a new pet, or choose revenge? Read to find out.


Please review.

* * *

There were very few times that Rainbow Dash cried. The first time was when her wing was trapped under a bolder. She felt hopeless. She felt there was no hope of escaping, and had given up for once in her life, but then she was saved by a turtle. That turtle had been in a race and was behind the others. It was the only one who helped Dash. Of course no pony knew this. She had said she chosen the turtle because it finished the race with her, unlike the other animals.

She named the turtle Tank. She had name it that, so it would be hard to destroy, and powerful. Of course Tank hadn't be able to learn any fight moves-despite Dash's intense training-and hid in his shell when a fight came along. At first Dash was upset with this, but as time went she got used to it. She had accepted it.

She had even accepted everything Tank. Well almost everything: the only thing she didn't accept was his death. She had been practicing a new trick called the _Rainbow Loop_. She would fly at her highest speed then do five loops. No Pegasui had been able to do five. Three was their highest, but Dash was used to doing the impossible.

She had done her four loop when she noticed some young ponies crowded around something. She thought nothing of it, but when she rose higher in the sky, ready to do her fifth loop, she saw a glimpse of what looked like a broken turtle shell. It took her less than a minute to realize that the turtle shell looked exactly like Tank's.

She gasped and ended her trick early. She dived toward the three ponies. She felt the sharp warm wind hit her ears, but for once she didn't care. She didn't care about the pounding of her heart. She didn't care about her speed, which broke her own record.

All she cared about was Tank.

She stopped behind a brown earth pony. "What's going on!" She screamed. The three ponies jumped and turned to look at her. Instead of moving to the side, they crowded together and hid their mistake. They said nothing as sweat trailed down their face. Normally Dash would have laughed at their faces, but she had only one thing on her mind: Tank.

"Move." She said darkly. Her purple eyes were narrowed. The ponies did not move an inch, but instead they moved closer together. There was no space between them for Dash to look at their hidden mistake. She growled and moved closer to them. She got in the face of a blue unicorn. He gulped as her eyes burned into his. She did not blink. "Move!" She screamed.

The unicorn shook as he moved to the side. The others followed his lead. She looked down and gasped. Her eyes widen and her heart dropped at the sight of what was her beloved turtle.

There laid Tank with his eyes closed. His green shell with yellow spots was broken in half. It was a clean cut. There was blood around his body. Dash fell on her flank as she looked at the horrible sight before her.

Dash shook her head then jumped up. She whipped around to the three ponies. "Which one?" She asked in a low voice. They knew what she meant, and wasted no time pointing to the unicorn. He glared at his two friends, but it didn't last long as Dash got in his face. His glare changed into widen eyes.

"What did you do?" Dash asked.

"Um, um," he stuttered.

"Answer!" She stomped her blue hoof down on the ground.

He jumped. "I was practicing a-a new spell, and it got out of hand!" He spat the truth out as if it was water.

"What kind of spell? What kind of spell that split Tank's shell in half!"

"A-a thunderbolt?"

That was enough for Dash. Something in her mind snapped and caused her to see red. Her body felt lifeless as she jumped on the unicorn to the ground. He screamed, but it was muffed in Dash's ears. She heard nothing as she struck him across the face, but one wasn't enough.

She struck him again and again. It was never enough. It was never enough to get her anger out. It was never enough to teach the unicorn a lesson. And, it was never enough to avenge Tank's death.

She was unsure of what happened next, but when she came too, she was held back by some pony and the unicorn gasped for air. He looked at Dash in horror as he placed his hoof on his neck. It didn't take her long to realize that she had strangled him.

She watched as the unicorn ran off with his friends. "No!" She screamed. She tried to chase after them, but some pony held her back. She whipped her head around and saw it was her long-time friend Fluttershy. She growled. "Let me go!" She demanded.

"No." Fluttershy said calmly.

Dash wanted to scream at her for her ignorance. She wanted to believe that Fluttershy was against her, and was on the unicorn's side, but she couldn't. She knew it was wrong.

Maybe it was the calming aura that surrounded Fluttershy, or maybe it was the stress that had happened in just a few minutes, but something had caused Dash's eyes to water. Her body shook as the tears fell down her cheeks. She wanted to muffle the cries, but she couldn't. She wanted Tank to hear her cries. She wanted him to know that she loved him.

Fluttershy ran her hoof through Dash's rainbow mane. "I know." She said. Dash closed her eyes and buried her face in her friend's chest. She wrapped her hoofs around her friend and held on tightly.

They stayed like that until Celestica lowered the sun and Luna raised the moon.

**Next day**

The sky was filled with grey clouds that threaten to pour on the earth ponies at anytime. The Peagusi wanted to clear the clouds, but Dash refused them to. She wanted the sky to match her mood. At first the Peagusis' had argued with her about how there was no need for the rain just yet, but once they saw Dash's sadness, they gave in.

Normally Dash would show no emotion expect happiness, but today she couldn't. How could she? Today she buried not only her pet, but her best friend. Through stick and thin they had been together. They had been together through the tough times, the fun times, and the sad times, but this time, Dash would have to fight the sad time alone.

Her friends and her went to the area where Dash was rescued by the turtle. The place where they had bonded. Her friends did not question why she picked this place. They knew there was a reason that only her and Tank would know.

Apple Jack dug a small grave about five feet deep. Fluttershy placed flowers around the hole to brighten up the grave. "He should have a nice home." She said.

Dash would have smiled at that, but her heart hurt too much. Instead she looked down at the small caste that Twilight had made. It was big enough to fit Tank and his broken shell. Instead laid Tank dressed in a black tux. The tux was, of course, Rarity's idea. _"If the other turtles saw him naked in his new life, then he would be made of. Now he'll be stylish!" _She had said.

Dash shook her head. _'Leave it to Rarity to dress up a dead turtle.' _She thought. She looked at the dark sky. Was there a special place for turtles? Dash didn't know, but she hoped so. She hoped there was with awesome stuff for the turtles' to play. She hoped there was an exercise place for Tank to work out. She hoped it was like the one she had made.

Hers' was built in the backyard of Fluttershy's home. It had a track for Tank to increase his speed, even though Twilight constantly reminded Dash that it was impossible for a turtle to go any faster than it's normal speed. There was also obstacles like jumping through hoops, or climbing up a seesaw. She wanted to put in a rock climbing active, but she didn't after she learned that Tank would be unable to climb it. Not to mention it would cost her two years of her salary to buy and place it in Fluttershy's backyard. And that gave Fluttershy less area to adopt more animals.

"Work your heart out, Tank." She said to the sky. She hoped her words would grow wings and take flight to Tank's ear. Her friends smiled sadly at her, but said nothing until she looked at them.

"Shall we say something?" Twilight said. She hoped that action would help Dash with her goodbye.

All of them looked at Dash to see if she wanted to go first, but the blue Pegasus shook her head. She wasn't ready. Fluttershy stepped forward. "I-I'll go first." She said to clear the tension. She stepped in front of the caste. She took a deep breath. "Tank, I've known you since you were a baby turtle. I watched you grow up into a well-mannered adult. I-I tried my best to make you happy, but you never looked truly happy until Dash claimed you as her pet." She smiled at the shocked Pegasus. "That's right. The moment he saw you, he wanted to be your pet. That's why I entered him in the race." She nuzzled her head against her friend's cheek then moved back to the others.

Dash bit her lip and looked down at the caste. _'I'm glad you were happy with me.' _

Apple Jack stepped up next. She took off her hat before she spoke. "I'll never forget the time Winona and you teamed up and stole two apples from me. I know you thought I didn't notice, but I did. I mean sugar cube, you were easy to see." She chuckled slightly then hugged Dash. She went back to the others.

Over the time the others stepped up with their own stories. The last one was Pinkie Pie. Unlike her normal bouncy skip, she walked with a slump. And unlike her normal bouncy pink hair, it was straight. Dash knew that that meant she was depressed.

Pinkie was never good with death. It was almost like she didn't believe in it, but when something died, the reality hit her hard. She didn't walk up to the caste, like the others. Instead she stood out from the others and looked at the sky. "What can I say? Tank was a great animal, and a great friend. He. . ." She shook her head and went back to the others.

Dash took in a deep breath as her turn came. What could she say? How could she express her happy memories of Tank, when in her mind all she saw was those ponies that took Tank's life. Her gritted her teeth at the memory of that blue unicorn. If he hadn't been stupid. If he had watched. If he had-

She was brought out of her thoughts by someone wrapping their hoof around her. She looked up and saw it was Apple Jack. She smiled kindly at her. "Don't worry Sugar Cube. We know how you felt."

She smiled for a moment, but it faded when she remembered they had to bury the caste. She sighed and looked at Twilight. "Can you? I-"

Twilight raised her hoof to silence her. "Of course. I understand." She pointed her horn at the caste. She closed her eyes and used a spell to raise the caste and lower it into the hole. She looked at the other girls. "Now, each take some dirt and throw it into the hole. That way we can feel like we're letting Tank know we love him, and we're sending him to a better place."

Every girl nodded expect for Dash. How could she do that when she wasn't ready for Tank to leave? Sure she wanted Tank to know she loved him, but could she send him far away from her? And if she couldn't, why could the others? She watched as each pony took a hoof full of dirt, then threw it on top of the caste.

With each throw of dirt they said their farewells and moved on_. 'How could they move on so quickly? He had just died yesterday!' _She thought. She took a step back. _'I-I don't understand.' _

Each pony looked at Dash. "Dash, are you ready to say goodbye?" Twilight asked.

'_How can I? He was my best friend!' _She wanted to say, but she kept it in her head. Instead she shook her head and spread out her wings. She jumped up and took flight into the grey sky. Higher and higher she went from the ground. From the grave.

She only heard the pounding of her heart, and the rush of the wind in her ears. She bit her lip as she flapped her wings harder. She had to get away from there. She had to get away from the memory of Tank's death.

She felt raindrops hit her nose, but she didn't care. For once rain wouldn't stop her. If her wings got wet and slowed her down, so what? She wanted to go home and rest.

She wiped away the "rain" that fell from her eyes.


End file.
